The Oaxaca Action Plan of Indigenous Peoples:From Cancun to Durban and Beyond

In the image appear the participants in the indigenous ceremony in front of the St. Domingo Church of Oaxaca and the presidium of the closing event.In the city of Oaxaca, Juarez, Mexico, 10 – 12 October 2011.

Indigenous Peoples representatives and participating governments were to provide continuity of the results of the International Technical Workshop of Indigenous Peoples and States on UNFCCC negotiations that took place in Xcaret, Qunitana Roo, 27 – 29 September 2010, in light of the Cancun Agreements – which include advances in the recognition of indigenous peoples rights – and analyze the outstanding challenges in the global climate regime within the framework of UNFCCC negotiations towards Durban, South Africa (COP17).

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International Indigenous Forum on Climate Change after the First Week of NegotiationsDurban, South Africa, November 28, 2011

Mrs. and Mr. Participants:
I thank the presidency and CMP7 for this opportunity. I am the President of the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Bolivia. I speak on behalf of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change to convey our history of defending life and profound unity with nature. The impacts of climate change are very grave and an expression of a crisis of civilization.
We need decisions like the following:

To prioritize the consolidation of Territories of our Peoples with the holistic, harmonic management of Living Well, Full Life, of the strategic ecosystems for cooling the planet.

To halt the destruction of nature and territories by extractive industries, agro-industries, biofuels, megaprojects and assume the corresponding reparations.

To identify and halt “carbon traders and carbon cowboys” and establish a system of accreditation of REDD+ operators that is transparent and trustworthy.

Direct access of our Peoples to the Green Fund and other climate funds, and prioritizing the territorial rights of peoples in their entirety including the forests and natural resources.

To strengthen the agriculture of our peoples, guaranteeing food security and sovereignty, without which they are subjected to perverse privatizing incentives of markets.

To build alternative funding mechanisms for the social and environmental sustainability of forests, based on public funds.

Durban must deliver a legally binding outcome in the form of an amendment to the Kyoto Protocol for the further commitment period that supports a binding aggregate emissions reduction target for developed countries (Annex 1) of at least 45% with a preferred level of 49% below 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95% by 2050. CMP7 must have mechanisms for the participation of our Peoples in accordance with the implementation the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We invite you to meetings with the Indigenous Caucus to advance in these directions, including the Rio+20 process.
Africa is full of culture and history. We feel the clamor of her peoples to make decisions so that humanity, which was born in these lands, has continuity.
Thank you very much.

We, the Indigenous Peoples of the world, united in the face of the climate crisis and the lack of political will of the States, especially the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, demand the immediate adoption of legally binding agreements with shared but differentiated responsibilities, to halt global warming and to define alternative models of development in harmony with Mother Earth.

For decades, Indigenous Peoples have warned that climate change confirms that the harmonic relationship between humans and Mother Earth has been ruptured, endangering the future of humanity in its entirety. The whole model of civilization that began 500 years ago with the pillaging of the natural resources for profit and the accumulation of capital, is in crisis. The alternative is to change the system, not the climate, based on a new paradigm for civilization, Living Well with harmony between the peoples and Mother Earth.

OurProposals

General Framework:

Recognize and respect the self determination of Indigenous Peoples, in particular our rights to territories and natural resources , in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Ensure and guarantee the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples at all levels, respecting the processes based on consultation and free, prior and informed consent in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Recognize, respect and strengthen the fundamental contribution of the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous Peoples.

Review the concepts of development based on the accumulation of wealth that emphasizes unlimited exploitation of natural resources.

SharedVision:

We urge developed countries to agree on a framework of legally binding commitments on concrete greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction targets as the follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol that ends in 2012.

We propose emissions reductions of at least 45% to 1990 levels by 2020 and at least 95% by 2050.

Gradual elimination of the development of fossil fuels and a moratorium on new fossil fuel exploitation in or near Indigenous Peoples lands and territories, respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Shared vision for long-term cooperation must not be limited to defining the increase of temperature and the concentration of GHG in the atmosphere, but rather it must include in an integral and balanced manner a set of financing, technological measures on adaptation, capacity building, patterns of production, consumption and other essential issues like the recognition of the rights of Mother Earth to reestablish our harmony with nature.

Technology Transfer:

Knowledge is universal and may not for any reason be subject to private property and use, and neither should its application in the form of technology. Developed countries should share their technology with developing countries.

Technology transfer and installation should be immediate, timely, free of any costs, in harmony with Mother Earth and free of conditions, whether they are related to already patented technologies or unreleased information.

Establish guidelines for creating a multilateral and multidisciplinary mechanism for continuous participatory control, management and evaluation of technology exchange. These technologies should be useful, clean and socially appropriate.

Establish a fund for financing and inventory of appropriate technologies that are free of intellectual property rights, especially patents that should be transferred from private monopolies to the public domain with free access and at low cost

Adaptation and mitigation:

Guarantee respect, protection and promotion of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and sustainable livelihoods, including the cultural and spiritual aspects.

Public policies and funds should prioritize full recognition of indigenous peoples’ territory. Indigenous Peoples own natural resource use, management and conservation systems should be recognized and promoted.

The monitoring, reporting and verification system should not be limited to measuring changes in forest coverage, but rather incorporate social variables, specifically those related to the fulfillment of indigenous rights.

All mitigation and adaptation evaluation, recovery and development actions should incorporate indigenous peoples’ knowledge and technologies, subject to their free, prior and informed consent and also guarantee the full participation of indigenous experts.

We demand that the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues recommend to the United Nations High Commission that Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous Peoples prepare a report about the impacts of climate change on indigenous peoples.

The States should ensure that indigenous peoples have the right of mobility and are not forced to relocate far from their traditional territories and lands and that the rights of peoples in voluntary isolation are respected.

With regards to climate change migration, adequate programs and measures shall be in accordance with their rights, statutes, conditions and vulnerabilities.

Financing:

All financing mechanisms for climate change mitigation and adaptation must be established under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and directly provide resources to Indigenous Peoples.

To establish participatory mechanisms to guarantee transparency and accountability in all the funding procedures and operations. The resources should come from public monies and be additional to the funds for development aid.

To establish a special fund that allows Indigenous Peoples and local communities to develop their own activities and contributions to address climate change.

Developed countries must commit new annual funding of at least 6% of its gross national product to face climate change in the developing countries.

Funding must be direct, without conditioning and not violate the sovereignty nor the self determination of Indigenous Peoples.

The international financial institutions, like the World Bank, must no administer the funds created or to be created because they finance projects that contribute to global warming and especially now that the World Bank pretends to eliminate the safeguards on Indigenous Peoples with the “Program for Results” – P4R

Developed countries, the principal countries that have caused climate change, must assume their historic and current responsibility and recognize and honor their climate debt fully, which is the basis for a just, effective, scientific solution to climate change.

In the framework of climate debt, we demand that the developed countries return to the developing countries the atmospheric space that is occupied by their GHG emissions.

Carbon markets and related mechanisms:

The IIPFCC reiterates that the majority of the world’s forests are found in Indigenous Peoples’ lands and territories. The IIPFCC rejects carbon trading and forest carbon offsets which commodify, privatize and commercialize forests. We are profoundly concerned that REDD+ jeopardizes the future of humanity by providing polluters with cheap permits to pollute thus further entrenching fossil fuel use, which is the major cause of the climate crisis. REDD++ also threatens the survival of Indigenous Peoples and may result in the biggest land grab of all time. The Cancun Accords failed to provide legally binding safeguards on the rights of Indigenous peoples and REDD+ type projects are already resulting in the violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. REDD+ promotes industrial plantations and can include the planting of genetically modified trees. Furthermore, the inclusion of soils and agricultural practices in REDD+ and other carbon marketing schemes could commodify almost the entire surface of Mother Earth. Similarly, we also reject using the algae of the oceans for REDD+ projects. Forests are most successfully conserved and managed with indigenous forest governance and recognition, demarcation and titling of Indigenous Peoples’ collective land and territories.

11th session of UNPFII opensThere will be no true development without participation of the indigenous peoples, says Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Secretary-General

There will be no true development without participation of the indigenous peoples. In every aspect of development project, Free, Prior and Informed Consent of the IPs is very essential, says Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro reaffirmed this commitment of the UN during opening session of the 11th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) held at general assembly hall of the United Nations headquarters in New York on 7 May 2012.
She started her address by thanking all the indigenous peoples who have traveled from all over the world to make this happen. She reaffirmed the commitment of the UN to work for the recognition of the rights of the indigenous peoples.
She emphasized that the Secretary General wants solid participation of the indigenous peoples in Rio+20 and called upon the indigenous peoples to share their traditional knowledge there.
She further said, still now, we keep hearing stories of suffering of indigenous peoples, indigenous peoples facing injustice, women see violence, marginalization and even extinction. But, time has come now to change these stories.
Opening of the session was started by the amazing earthly sound of “didgeridoo”, an Australian aboriginal instrumental music, played by Mr. Cameron McCarthy.
Mr. Thomas Stelzer, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, declared the opening of the 11th session of the UNPFII.
Opening welcome was made by Todadaho Sid Hill, traditional Chief of the Onondaga Nation. He greeted all the participants with his traditional ceremonial welcome, acknowledging “mother earth” as our true mother, and acknowledging everything that the creator has given to us.
In the opening session, Grand Chief Edward John, a hereditary Chief of Tl’azt’en Nation located on the banks of the Nak’al Bun (Stuart Lake) in Northern part of Canada, was elected as the Chairperson for the eleventh session and Mr. Megan Davis, Director of the Indigenous Law Centre of Australia’s University of New South Wales was appointed as a Special Rapporteur.
The newly elected chairperson Mr. Edward John, with the consent from the respected members of the PFII, adopted the Agenda and Programme of work for the Eleventh Session. “The enduring impact of the “Doctrine of Discovery” was set as special theme for this year’s session. The other agenda items that were set for this session include the rights of indigenous peoples to food and food sovereignty; the situation of indigenous peoples in Central and Eastern Europe, the Russian Federation, Central Asia and Transcaucasia; the upcoming World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (2014).
Talking about the main theme, “Doctrine of Discovery”, Chief Edward John said, importance should be given on enduring impact of historical wrongs as state reviews their relationship with the indigenous peoples. He said this Forum is a wonderful opportunity for the indigenous peoples to share their stories and to discuss their collective future. He expects that the discussion that will take place at this Forum, will really make a difference to the indigenous peoples.
Mr. Thomas Stelzer, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Co-ordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, acknowledged the depth of knowledge of the forum members. He stated PFII is one of the best session in UN calendar where Indigenous Peoples, different organization and UN system all come together to advance IP’S rights. He called upon the IPs to take solid participation in next month Rio+20 conference, where they can share their knowledge for sustainable development and to fight against climate change and also it will be a prime opportunity for the indigenous peoples to reaffirm all section of humanity. He further added, attention is needed from the states to promote & protect IPs rights, equality & justice.
The opening session was ended with a ceremonial prayer offered by Mayan elders.
This year, a group of indigenous representatives from Bangladesh comprising Information and Publicity Secretary of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti Mangal Kumar Chakma, president of Jatiya Adivasi Parishad and chairperson of Kapaeeng Foundation Rabindranath Soren, member of Kapaeeng Foundation Anmoy Kiran Chakma, Kamalasen Chakma and Sudattapriya Chakma of Parbatya Pratibandhi Sangstha attended the 11th session of the UNPFII. Besides, member of the UNPFII and circle chief of Chakma Circle Raja Devasish also attended the session.